Malcolm Fraser (born 21 July 1959) is an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

from Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the founder of Malcolm Fraser Architects, a firm of architects based in the

Old Town of Edinburgh The Old Town () is the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Scottish Reformation, Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, Edinbur ...

from 1993. The company entered liquidation on 21 August 2015 and Fraser worked with Halliday Fraser Munro Architects before setting up anew with Robin Livingstone as Fraser/Livingstone Architects in January 2019.

Biography

Alexander Malcolm Fraser was born on 21 July 1959 to Margaret (''née'' Watters) and William Fraser (Structural engineer, with Blyth and Blyth, for many of Edinburgh's best post-war buildings). He attended

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

, going on to study architecture at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, graduating with an MA Hons, DipArch in 1985. Following University he worked as a community architect in Wester Hailes in Edinburgh; with architect and theorist

Christopher Alexander Christopher Wolfgang John Alexander (4 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an Austrian-born British-American architect and Design theory, design theorist. He was an Professors in the United States#Professor emeritus and emerita, emeritus profes ...

in Berkeley, California; conservation practices in Edinburgh; and with poet and artist

Ian Hamilton Finlay Ian Hamilton Finlay (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener. Life Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent. He was educa ...

at his garden,

Little Sparta Little Sparta is a garden at Dunsyre in the Pentland Hills in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, created by artist and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay and his wife Sue Finlay, since 1966. The Arcadia (utopia), Arcadian garden includes concrete poetry in s ...

, near Edinburgh. He founded his architectural practice, Malcolm Fraser Architects, in 1993. It first made its name developing bars and restaurants for clients such as

Pizza Express PizzaExpress (Restaurants) Limited, trading as Pizza Express (also called Pizza Marzano or Milano), is a British multinational pizza restaurant chain. It has over 500 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, ...

, and with lottery-funded arts projects. The practice's work encompassed conservation and new build, often in historic contexts such as Edinburgh's

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, based on respect for the historic built context and the need to build within it in a rooted, confident, contemporary way. Its Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, for the University of Edinburgh, became the first listed building to achieve

BREEAM The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), first published by the Building Research Establishment in 1990, is touted as the world's longest established method of identifying the sustainability of buildings. Ar ...

"Outstanding" award. The practice won eight RIBA awards and also completed masterplanning and construction work for volume housebuilders that won for them, for the first time in Scotland, major awards - for The Drum,

Bo'ness Borrowstounness, commonly known as Bo'ness ( ), is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically part of the county of West Lothian (historic), ...

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

and Princess Gate, Fairmilehead, Edinburgh. The practice ceased trading in 2015, after 22 years of work, but Fraser/Livingstone Architects continue its work of cultural regeneration, community empowerment and an enlarged view of sustainability that encompasses heritage, retrofit and regeneration – ''social closening'', in all its forms. Fraser married architect Helen Lucas in 1988 and has one son and two daughters.

Advocacy

Edinburgh

The practice, between 1999 and 2009, won the Edinburgh Architectural Association (EAA) Building of the Year/Silver Medal six times, the Conservation award twice plus other EAA Awards and Commendations. Using this as a platform Fraser has campaigned about built environment issues in Edinburgh, including initiatives for Princes Street, the Grassmarket and the redevelopment of Boroughmuir High School.

Public life

In 2002, Fraser was appointed as the inaugural Deputy-Chair of Architecture and Design Scotland – a non-departmental public body (or quango) which acts as the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

's advisor on the

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...

. He resigned in 2004 over the organisation's unwillingness to examine whether the UK Government's use of Public-Private Partnerships for public buildings such as schools represented value-for-money. Fraser was appointed

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

at the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

in 2003 and Geddes Honorary

Professorial Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the

Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture The Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA) is part of Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The school was ranked 5th in the UK in the 2013 Guardian University Guide and 4th in the Com ...

, part of the

, in 2009. He has also lectured in Europe, China and North America. Fraser sits on the board of the Common Weal, a Scottish think tank, campaigning and advocacy organisation. During the run-up to the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum Fraser acted as spokesman for the group 'Architects for Yes'.

VAT

During his time as a columnist for the weekly architectural journal Building Design, in 2003, Fraser initiated a Flat VAT campaign to standardise

Value Added Tax A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

across new build (currently 0%) and repair (then 17.5%) that was taken up by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers wa ...

and Debra Shipley MP but rejected by the then

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

MP.

Banks

Fraser acted as spokesman for the Merger Action Group of Scottish businessmen who took

Her Majesty's Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

to the

Competition Appeal Tribunal The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) of the United Kingdom was created by Section 12 and Schedule 2 to the Enterprise Act 2002, Enterprise Act 2002 which came into force on 1 April 2003. The Competition Service is an executive non-department ...

over the Government's alleged "ripping-up" of legislation and failure to heed anti-competition warnings when it enabled the acquisition of

HBOS HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland plc, which ...

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Established in Birmingham in 1765, Lloyds Bank e ...

in 2008.

Town Centre Review

Fraser led and authored the Scottish Government's Town Centre Review "Community and Enterprise in Scotland's Town Centres", which looked to structural change to bring investment and footfall in towns. The Government's response included adopting the review's recommendation for a "Town Centre First" principle across all its activities.

Main completed work and awards

Malcolm Fraser Architects' projects in chronological order with year of completion, major awards and citations: * Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh: 1999 **

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

Gold Medal for Architecture: 1997 ** Winner, RIBA Award: 2000 ** Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings: no.9Retrieved 2009-12-12. * DanceBase, Edinburgh: 2001 ** Winner, RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture: 2002 ** Winner, RIBA Award: 2002 ** Finalist,

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The ...

: 2002 * The Drum, Bo’ness: 2003 **

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland, founded in 1936. The society organises lectures and publishes pamphlets, and presents a series of awards in the fiel ...

Housing Award: 2005 * Dance City,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

: 2005 ** Winner, RIBA Award: 2007 * Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh: 2006 ** Winner, RIBA Award: 2007 * HBOS Headquarters, The Mound, Edinburgh: 2006 * Princess Gate housing, Edinburgh: 2007 * Berwick Workspace,

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

: 2007 ** Winner, RIBA Award: 2009 * Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh: 2009 ** Winner, RIBA Award: 2010 *

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1 ...

headquarters at The Tramway, Glasgow: 2009 ** Winner, Scottish Design Awards: Architecture Grand Prix and Best Public Building: 2010 * Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Speir's Lock Studio, Glasgow: 2011 and 2015 ** Winner, RIBA Award. * Linlithgow Burgh Halls: 2012 * Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, Edinburgh: 2014 ** Winner, Edinburgh Architectural Association Best Building of the Year; RICS Building Conservation Award; Scottish Design Award for Education Building: 2014 ** BREEAM "Outstanding". *

Arcadia Nursery, King's Buildings, Edinburgh: 2014 ** Winner, Scottish Design Awards: Best education building; Edinburgh Architectural Association Awards Wood Award; Edinburgh Architectural Association's Building of the Year Award(Commendation): 2015 Also, RIAS Award; RIBA Award; Wood for Good/ Forestry Commission Scotland Award; Zero Waste Scotland's Efficiency Award: 2015 * West Pilton Crescent Council Housing, Edinburgh: 2015 ** Winner, Saltire Award: 2015 * Stromness Warehouse, Library and Council Hub, Orkney: 2015 ** Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning - Overall Winner 2017 ** RTPI Silver Jubilee Cup - Overall UK Winner * Lews Castle and Museum nan Eilan, Stornoway, Lewis: 2015 * Leith Fort Colonies (delivered by Collective Architecture) ** RIAS Award: 2018 ** Saltire Award & Medal: 2018 ** EAA Building of the Year - Highly Commended: 2018 ** Homes for Scotland - Affordable Housing of the Year: 2018 ** Scottish Design Awards - Affordable Housing of the Year: 2018 * Collective Gallery on Calton Hill (delivered by Collective Architecture) ** RIAS Award: 2019 ** RIBA Award: 2019 ** EAA Conservation Award – Commended: 2019 ** RAIS Doolan Award – shortlist: 2019 ** Civic Trust Awards – Highly Commended: 2021 * Bridgend Community Farmhouse, (delivered by Halliday Fraser Munro) ** MacEwan Award for social architecture – Commended: 2019 ** Scottish Design Awards – Regeneration Award: 2019 ** Scottish Civic Trust - My Place Commendation: 2019 Fraser/Livingstone Architects’ projects in chronological order with year of completion, major awards and citations: * The Toll Hous

** EAA Small Project Winner 2022 * Simon Squar

** EAA Residential and Building of the Year 2022 ** Scottish Homes Awards – Innovation in Design 2022 ** Scottish Design Awards – Gold Award ** Saltire Housing Awards – Award and overall Saltire Medal

References

External links

Official sit
Fraser/Livingstone Architects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Malcolm 1959 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Architects from Edinburgh 21st-century Scottish architects 20th-century Scottish architects People educated at George Watson's College